Saturday Bird Droppings

I Believe In Miracles

All-or-nothing Baltimore Orioles use small ball to get key win - Baltimore Orioles- ESPN
"Michael Bourn, all 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds of him, did what the Birds' big bruisers couldn't do a night earlier. On Friday at Camden Yards, the recently acquired outfielder hit an eighth-inning, bases-loaded sacrifice fly that plated the go-ahead run and helped the Baltimore Orioles to a crucial 5-4 comeback win over the Tampa Bay Rays."

New Kid In Town

Orioles' Oliver Drake taking advantage of September opportunity with newfound efficiency - Baltimore Sun
"With two scoreless innings Thursday, Oliver Drake has struck out 11 in 7 2/3 innings while allowing two runs on three hits in five appearances since his Aug. 28 call-up, capitalizing on an award-winning minor league season and turning it into success with the Orioles."

I'm Still Good Once As I Ever Was

J.J. Hardy, the Orioles' best hitter in September, no longer making quiet contributions - Baltimore Sun
"J.J. is probably moving and playing as well as I’ve seen him play, and he’s played real well here," Buck Showalter said. "He’s, I don’t want to jinx him, but he’s been so solid. You think about the number of games we played here without him. His substance is his style. He makes hard plays look easy, and not a lot of people completely appreciate it. I know his peers really appreciate it."

Five Orioles stats that stand out about how Ubaldo Jimenez turned his season around - Baltimore Sun
"On the surface, watching Orioles right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez go from spending a month as an afterthought in the bullpen to a much-needed cog in a playoff-aspiring team’s rotation has been somewhere between amusing and dumbfounding. You almost expected that if there was going to be such a turnaround in his future, it would come on another team after the Orioles finally cut bait."

Notes on Trumbo, Kim, Rickard, O'Day and more - School of Roch
"Mark Trumbo [was] out of [Friday's] lineup with back spasms, according to Orioles manager Buck Showalter. Trumbo may be available to pinch-hit later. Showalter is hoping that Trumbo will return to the lineup Saturday night."

Hurts So Bad

Orioles' Joey Rickard: Suffers setback Friday - CBSSports.com
"Manager Buck Showalter said Joey Rickard was only able to take a couple swings before he had to shut it down. As a result, Rickard is unlikely to be activated Monday (as was planned) and a return before the end of the season now seems questionable."

Birds of a Feather

Orioles get convincing win over Sidwell Friends | High School Sports | fredericknewspost.com
As is the editorial policy of this blog, we celebrate the success of all teams Orioles. Maryland School for the Deaf got a big win last night.

Birthday and History

Happy Birthday to former Oriole Wayne Krenchicki. He shares it with famous people including 1743 Marquis de Condorcet, French enlightenment philosopher; 1907 Warren E Burger, Minn, Supreme Court chief justice; 1923 Hank Williams, American country singer; 1928 Roddy McDowall, actor; 1931 Anne Bancroft, actress; 1939 David H Souter, Weir NH, 107th Supreme Court Justice; 1945 Phil Jackson, American basketball player and coach; 1994 Taylor Ware, American yodeler.

Today in Baltimore baseball history...

1955 - Future Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson goes 2 for 4 in his first game as the O's top the Senators, 3 - 1.

1999 - An incident that will help speed the firing of Orioles gemeral manager Frank Wren occurs today. Cal Ripken Jr. is delayed in traffic and calls the team's traveling secretary to assure him that he'd be arriving at the airport within the next 10 minutes. At Wren's order, however, the plane takes off without Cal, who arrives at the gate a few minutes later and has to make his own travel arrangements. When Wren is fired after the season, Orioles management blames him for operating in "such an unreasonable, authoritarian manner". The O's defeat the Twins, 8 - 3, as Jesse Orosco preserves Mike Mussina's 15th win. For Orosco, it is major-league record 1,072 appearance. He had been tied with Dennis Eckersley.

Today in world history...

642 Arab forces under Amr ibn al-'As conquer Alexandria and destory the library

1683 Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is the first to report the existence of bacteria

1862 Battle of Antietam [Battle of Sharpsburg], bloodiest day in the American Civil War - 23,110 die in first battle on Union soil

1900 Commonwealth of Australia proclaimed

1916 The Red Baron [Manfred von Richthofen], WWI flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France

Consider this your discussion space for NCAA football: Maryland at UFC.